At the Cardinal Invitational this weekend, the Jumbos placed third out of 10 teams. The Jumbos scored 69 points, putting them behind Amherst College’s Mammoths, who scored 46 points, and Vassar College’s Brewers, who scored 68 points. The Wesleyan University Cardinals came in fourth place with 77 points.
Beyond the good team score, the Jumbos had many impressive individual performances in the 6K race. The Jumbos had two finishers in the top 10, with junior Elizabeth Donahue finishing in eighth place with a time of 22 minutes, 2.1 seconds, and first-year Zoe Margolies finishing in 10th place in 22:07.8. Junior Jaclyn Turner, sophomore Sophia Carpenter and junior Lexi Dean rounded out Tufts’s top five runners, finishing in 14th, 16th and 21st, respectively. After Dean, Tufts had two more top-50 finishes. Sophomore Katya Henisz placed 34th with a time of 22:56.5 and senior Carly Rinko ran a 23:18.3 and came in 46th place.
Because a cross-country team’s final score is composed of their top five athletes’ scores, the runners must finish close together in order to compete well. A tight spread among the top five runners can help keep the team’s score low. Because many of the Tufts runners often finish close together, the Jumbos can truly compete as a team in a sport that often feels very dependent on individual performance.
“Our spread, in terms of how we finish these races, is pretty close, which is not something that you see too often,” Turner said. “The pack mentality is something we are still really trying to develop, and once we get that down, I feel like we’ll be a really competitive team in the future.”
The Jumbos' teamwork will make them much more competitive on the course.
“We have such a good, competitive group of girls, and we’re all developing our ability to work together in races, so that’s been really fun,” Turner said.
Margolies explained that working with her teammates is especially important for her, as she’s learning more about competing at the collegiate level.
“I have a lot of great role models and upperclassmen to look at and help me throughout the race,” Margolies said. “I think as a team we stuck together in the beginning and, in terms of pacing but also as support, [my teammates] really helped me through the race.”
In general, having teammates nearby during races helps her stay motivated, encouraged and on-pace, Margolies explained. It also shows the importance of team depth.
“The fact that I can run with people, and they’re there to help me throughout the race and help run a smarter race is really important,” Margolies said.
Turner explained that in upcoming practices and races, the Jumbos hope to develop their race strategy around working together as a group. This will give them an extra competitive edge that they need in order to compete against tougher teams. As they continue to improve this strategy, Tufts will keep getting better as the season goes on.
“This pack mentality I keep talking about, I feel like we’re developing it in a really strong way and I think it's going to show in the upcoming meets,” Turner said.
The Jumbos hope to improve this group mentality through challenging practices. Completing tough workouts as a team gives athletes confidence that they can keep up with teammates during races.
“When you're working out with this group of girls, you have physical evidence that you can keep up with them and that you have a spot on this team,” Turner said. “So when you go into the races, you’re more confident, and you can then show the work that you've done.”
This year, the women’s cross-country team has a new coach in Jamie Norton. Turner explained that Norton has improved the program through his coaching, helping bring the team together.
“[Norton] came in expecting a really high level of standards from us because he saw that we could fulfill those standards, and he’s giving us the direction that we really need this year,” Turner said.
Turner explained that Norton’s plan was helpful in the team’s strategy for this race.
“I think what went well is that we were given a plan to execute by our coach,” Turner said. “I think we all do really good jobs of executing that in our own way, to the best of our ability.”
Each cross-country course presents unique challenges, but much of the strategy involved in the 6K race remains the same no matter the course.
“Every meet is different because there’s a different course for each meet and you’re racing different teams, but the race strategy stays the same throughout,” Turner said.
Women’s cross-country will compete next at the Paul Short Run at Lehigh University on Oct. 5 after a week off.
“I’m just looking forward to more races,” Margolies said. “Our team looks really strong, so I think as a team, we're going to do really well.”
